Huge marijuana bust at California border crossing nets 15 tons

Federal police make near record pot bust at California border crossing last week. By Stephanie Baumer

(CNN) -- When searching for hidden stash, an obvious place to check is the mattress.

Federal police in California did so last week, and found 15 tons of marijuana, and made the second largest weed bust in history at a U.S. border crossing.

The truck carrying the weed crossed into California from Mexico at Otay Mesa. The shipment was labeled as “mattresses and cushions.” A Customs and Border Police officer had the cargo bay X-rayed, and the objects inside didn’t look right, the CBP said in a statement.

An officer flapped open the cargo doors to see weed wrapped into plastic packages, stacked from floor to ceiling -- 1,296 in all. Together they weighed in at 31,598 pounds and had an estimated street value of $18.96 million.

There were a few mattresses in the shipping bay, at the opposite end of the load.

The largest border crossing pot bust payload in U.S. history also arrived into Southern California from Mexico in 2013. It tipped the scales at 35,265 pounds or 17.6 tons.